The Adventure of the Lonely Planet
by jsk
Summary: Jean-Luc Picard and crew are trapped on a mysterious planet


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DISCLAIMER: "Star Trek" is the copyrighted by Paramount, and Paramount  
owns Star Trek and the Star Trek Universe. The following story is   
not-for-profit.  
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The Adventures of Jean-Luc Picard  
=================================  
  
The Adventure of the Lonely Planet  
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(c) Jasjit Singh , February 1999  
  
"Captain, I am receiving a distress signal on general hail."  
Captain Keel turned around to face T'Pau, who was at the communications  
station, monitoring the incoming message.  
"Origin?" he inquired, contemplating.  
"The third planet from the Sun. Within this solar system," replied T'Pau,  
after making the required calculations. Keel rubbed his chin.  
"Is the message specific?"  
"It is a small craft, five passengers. Three of them are wounded. They  
require medical attention."  
"Yellow alert! Helm, take us to the third planet. Full Impulse."  
"Aye sir!"  
  
"Lucky we happened to be in the neighborhood," mused Keel, as the U.S.S  
Stargazer changed course and heading towards the third planet. It was a  
dark grey world, with swirls of black and brown clouds in the atmosphere,  
and many storms on what must have been a planet with a climate wet and  
warm. It was shaped strangely, almost like an oblong. But its trajectory  
matched the other planets, and scans revealed that it was an M-Class  
planet.  
"Jean-Luc, take an away team down to the surface. Transport directly to  
the coordinates of the crashed craft. T'Pau, send a reply, that a  
Federation team is on their way to offer assistance."  
  
Jean-Luc Picard selected his away team: Science Officer Do-reth Sainor,  
Security Chief Eddy Hastings, and the Doctor Jyresh Maxwell. Less than  
four minutes later they were assembled on transporter pad one, with  
phasors, a medical kit and supplies, ready to transport down to the planet.  
  
"Good Luck," said the Transporter Chief as he began the transport. Looking  
up he saw the four figures on the pad shimmer and then vanish.  
  
The surface of the planet was wet. There was rain pouring down at the  
location where they transported to, and the soil beneath their feet was  
moist. They were surrounded by rich vegetation, lots of ferns and small  
trees. But there was no crashed shuttle of any kind. In fact, there was no  
evidence of any crash at all. As soon as this was evident, Hastings had  
drawn his phasor and was sweeping the area in one continuous pattern,  
looking for any signs of an ambush. Picard had his tricorder out and was  
scanning the area. Sainor seemed bewildered, standing oddly on the surface,  
lifting one foot and the other, and looking about with a quizzical  
expression on his face.  
  
Picard attempted initiating communication with the Stargazer: "Picard to  
Stargazer."  
  
The sound of the Captains voice was broken with static, but they were able  
to hear him.  
"Keel here. Have you located the crashed craft, Picard?"  
"No sir. There is no sign of any type of crashed vessel here at all. In  
fact, I am not reading any life signs for an area of twenty square  
kilometers. We will begin a search pattern, originating from our transport  
location, sweeping outwards. Meanwhile the Stargazer can perform more  
extensive scans of the planets surface, for any lifeforms."  
"Agreed. Carry on, Mr. Picard. Keel out."  
  
The away team searched in outward concentric circles that began at the  
point of origin, which was their transport site. They moved quickly in the  
light rainfall, but with caution, phasors drawn and ready to fire. It was a  
long search, and lasted approximately nine hours, but they did not find any  
signs of life. The scans of the planet by the Stargazer did not reveal any  
lifeforms on the surface either. At the end of their search, the team took  
another much needed break. They found shelter beneath an outcropping of  
rock along a sheer cliff wall. Their movements had taken them outside the  
dense forest, and now they found themselves in a region which was more  
rocky, and sparse of vegetation, although the rain here fell equally as in  
any other region on the planet.  
  
As they sat down to rest, Sainor seemed agitated.  
"Mr. Sainor, is there a problem?" asked Picard, noticing Sainor's lack of  
composure.  
"It is most strange, sir," replied Sainor, in his usual calm voice, as he  
took a seat. "I am confused, as if all my senses are betraying me. I am  
able to stand upright only with difficulty."  
"Are you having trouble balancing? Any nausea?" Jyresh opened his medical  
kit and examined Sainor with a medical tricorder.  
"No," replied Sainor faintly. "None of those symptoms. I think you will  
find that I am quite fit, Doctor. Medically speaking, of course."  
"So you are," said Jyresh, having completed his scans, and finding nothing  
amiss with Sainor, he folded the tricorder and replaced it in the medkit.  
"Maybe you just need some rest," he offered, at a loss. Sainor nodded, and  
managed a feeble smile.  
"Inform me if your condition gets any worse," said Picard.  
"Aye sir," replied Sainor.  
  
Picard stood at the edge of the shelter, looking out at the rain that was  
now nothing more than a light drizzle, falling upon the brown sands that  
marked the plains in the distance. The vegetation was growing more sparse  
in this area of the land, with little more than shrubs and bushes. Out  
towards the east lay a parched desert. It was visible to the naked eye,  
even from this distance.  
"Kinda strange, isn't it?" It was Hastings. He had come up to stand beside  
Picard, looking out over the plain. "It's raining here, and still we can  
see a bone dry desert not too far off."  
"It is, unusual," Picard agreed.  
"Any idea where the crashed shuttle might be?"  
"I don't see how they could have managed to get far, in this terrain.  
Especially with three wounded passengers. And there is still the mystery,  
Mr. Hastings, of their shuttlecraft. If it crashed, then where is it?"  
"In all my time aboard the Stargazer, we have never gotten transport  
coordinates wrong, not even once."  
"Oh, I don't think that this was a transporter accident, Mr. Hastings."  
Hastings looked at Picard.  
"You don't mean to say. . ." He did not finish his sentence. Picard turned  
to Hastings, raised his eyebrows, and shrugged.  
"Let's just say that I am not discounting any possibility. Mr. Hastings, be  
on full alert. The last thing we want is to be taken surprise by the  
Romulans. Or any other group that hopes to waylay an unwary Federation away  
team."  
"Aye sir!"  
  
It had been eleven hours since their arrival on the planet, and they had  
not found a single indication of lifeforms anywhere on the planet. Picard  
considered his alternatives. He looked back at his team; they were weary  
but ambling along. Mr. Sainor in particular looked especially exhausted,  
requiring help to walk, one arm draped over Jyresh's shoulders as the good  
doctor helped him stumble along. Picard decided it was time to return to  
the Stargazer.  
  
They assembled in a clearing and prepared for transport.  
"Stargazer, this is Picard. Four to beam up."  
"Aye sir, stand by for transport," the Transporter Chief's voice crackled  
over the comm signal. They stood, with Sainor almost bent over in fatigue.  
  
Nothing happened.  
  
"Stargazer, this Picard. We are ready for transport."  
There was a pause before the Transporter Chief's voice came over the comm  
signal: "I am having trouble isolating your patterns sir. I will try  
boosting the signal integrity. Please stand by."  
  
Still nothing.  
  
Then, after a long while, the Transporter Chief's voice came over the comm  
signal again, this time sounding hesitant and almost apologetic.  
"We are having some problems here, sir. It appears that we are not able to  
transport you off the planet."  
  
***  
  
They were dumbfounded aboard the Stargazer. The whole transporter team did  
not know what to do. So they called the Chief Engineer, Khalid Qahwaji.  
When he arrived at the transporter room, he listened to the Transporter  
Chief with patience, nodding to indicate that he understood what was  
happening, and when the Chief was done, he stepped up to the transporter  
console and checked the log entries. He was a quiet man, and did not speak  
very much. His huge build and heavy set frame often betrayed his gentle  
demeanor.  
  
When he was done checking the transporter logs, he nodded and said to the  
Transporter Chief:  
"Looks like there is a problem with the signal integrity. I will work on  
it."  
  
It was thirty minutes later when Khalid informed Keel that he was ready to  
try the transporters again. Keel, who had begun to become impatient, said  
"Yes, carry on, Khalid. Let's get our people back."  
"Khalid to away team," Khalid was operating aboard the bridge, where he had  
re-routed engineering and transporter control to the science station. "I  
have modified the phase variance of the confinement beam in the  
transporters. We should be able to get a sufficiently stable pattern lock  
to perform transport."  
"We are standing by, Khalid," It was Picard's voice, distant, but with  
still a touch of exuberance in it. Keel smiled at that.  
"Energizing," Khalid watched the transporter patterns as he attempted to  
perform the transport. At the beginning of transport, all four pattern  
locks were stable and holding. But as the transport progressed, they lost  
integrity, and then vanished altogether, so that Khalid had to abort  
transport.  
"What's wrong?" Keel asked, looking over Khalid's shoulders. Khalid had a  
frown on face, as he reviewed logs of the transport that had just been  
attempted.  
"We had transporter lock, but as I began transport, we lost it. There was  
no change in atmospheric conditions, or surface conditions on the planet,  
which would account for this type of signal loss. It is almost as if our  
transporters had been disabled at point of transport. I just ran a  
diagnostic program, and the transporters are functioning at ninety three  
percent efficiency. If it was a transporter problem, it would have shown up  
on the diagnostics."  
  
Picard's voice came over the comm signal.  
"Captain, Mr. Sainor has taken a turn for the worse. Anything you can do to  
expedite our return to the Stargazer will be appreciated."  
"We'll get you back just as soon as we can, Picard. Maintain your present  
position," Keel replied to Picard, and then he turned to the Second  
Officer, Michiko Hatta.  
  
"Take a shuttlecraft," he said to her, "Get a fix on their location, and  
get them out of there."  
Michiko nodded and headed for the turbolift.  
"Hang in there Picard. We're going to get you back," mumbled Keel under his  
breath, as he looked at the swirling clouds of the grey planet on the  
viewscreen, "just lucky we happened to be in the neighborhood. For a  
non-existent crashed shuttle."  
  
***  
  
Michiko Hatta was an accomplished shuttle pilot. She had flown all kinds of  
Starfleet shuttlecrafts, including the experimental prototypes, and even  
some of the Klingon shuttles. She enjoyed piloting, and had devised and  
documented several evasive maneuvers, many of which were incorporated into  
standard Starfleet Academy training courses. That had led to her becoming  
somewhat famous among the Starfleet combat pilots, who credited many of  
their victories to her flying tactics. That, she was proud of. She herself  
had seen many combat situations, and was well educated in the art of flying  
under fire. Compared to flying under attack, there was nothing difficult  
about landing a shuttle on an M-class planet. At least, nothing that she  
thought was difficult.  
  
As she approached the planet, she turned on the geographical mapping  
routines in the shuttles on-board computer, so that she would be able to  
navigate the terrain and land in an appropriate area. The dark grey swirls  
came closer and closer, until they filled the view in front of her. It was  
so dense and tightly packed, that she could not see beneath the  
disturbance.  
"Shuttlecraft one to Stargazer. This is Michiko. I am preparing to enter  
the planets atmosphere. Looks like it's going to be a little rough."  
"Stargazer to shuttlecraft one. We have acknowledged. Please proceeed."  
Michiko nodded and tapped the control panel. The dark clouds seemed like  
great billowing smoke, pulsing, throbbing with life. As the tiny  
shuttlecraft approached them, they enveloped it hungrily.  
  
The shuttle began to tremble, and then shake. Michiko consulted her  
navigational controls. They were not registering. Cursing, she slammed her  
fist on the console. She turned to the navigational controls for space  
travel. They would not give her the required accuracy for planetary travel,  
but at least would guide her to her landing site. But they were offline as  
well. She turned back to the navigational controls, and activated manual  
controls.  
"Warning," the shuttle's computer sounded, "Navigational controls are  
offline. Switching to manual controls is not recommended."  
"Tell me something I don't know," said Michiko to the computer, and swerved  
the shuttlecraft around. There seemed to be clouds everywhere. There was no  
break in them. They were getting darker, blacker, every second. She  
suspected there was a storm in the vicinity. She tried steering away from  
it. But the clouds kept getting blacker, and the movement in them more  
violent. Finally, lightning bolts started to streak across and in between  
the clouds in front of her.  
  
Michiko was surprised.  
"Why am I not down yet?" she wondered, hovering the shuttlecraft. Then, she  
shrugged. "I should have been down. Oh well, there is only one way to find  
out."  
And she tapped the controls twice. The shuttlecraft lurched forward, and  
then took a sharp turn, and nose-dived. Michiko held on to the console with  
both hands as the shuttle shot downward at an accelerating velocity. The  
clouds began to clear. She smiled to herself.  
  
Just then a long sharp lightning bolt shot out from the closest cloud and  
penetrated the shuttle's hull. It shot straight through the hull and into  
Michiko's body, lifting her up off her seat and flinging her across the  
cabin. She fell in a crumpled heap on the floor, unconscious. The shuttle  
halted its downward descent, hovering as a bead on a string. Then, the nose  
tilted upward, and the shuttle righted itself. The thick black clouds  
enveloped it again, hiding it from view.  
  
***  
  
Keel held an emergency meeting in the conference room. He stood at the head  
of the table, looking very sombre, but more than that he looked impatient,  
even bordering on angry. He surveyed the assembled senior staff, and then  
began:  
"We have lost one shuttlecraft," he said, "missing in that planets  
atmosphere. It did not crash. It just disappeared. If that is at all  
possible. And we have an away team that is stranded on the planet below. We  
have to formulate some method of getting our people back to us. Without any  
casualties. We need alternatives."  
"If we had some way of clearing up those atmospheric storms," said T'Pau,  
"we might be able to land a shuttlecraft successfully."  
Khalid shook his head. "All our sensor readings indicate that the  
atmospheric disturbances are a natural extension of the planets own  
climatology. These conditions have persisted for years, maybe even tens or  
hundreds of years. Waiting for a shift in weather would not be advisable."  
  
"What if we created a shift in weather, instead of waiting for one?"  
countered T'Pau, thinking out loud.  
"We'd have to modify the mean surface temperature, and reduce the water  
vapor to air molecule ratio above the condensation level," Khalid was  
inputting data into his pad, his fingers typing furiously, entering  
equations, programming a simulation. "We could possibly detonate a  
low-yield class four type torpedo very near to the planets stratosphere.  
That would cause a cascade reaction, and raise the mean atmospheric  
temperature. . ."  
"Thus raising the atmospheric pressure and reducing the atmospheric  
disturbances," said T'Pau.  
"In fact, if we get enough clearance, we may even be able to transport them  
out of there," said Khalid thoughtfully, still studying his pad.  
"It's worth a shot," Keel nodded. "I want status reports on the hour.  
Let's try to hurry this up, we have a crewman on that planet who needs  
medical attention."  
"Aye sir."  
  
It was four hours and twelve minutes later when they were ready to begin.  
T'Pau and Khalid were on the bridge, with Keel sitting in the captains  
chair, looking at the planet which now was covered in ominous black  
clouds. Khalid signaled Keel that they were ready to proceed. Keel opened  
a communications channel with the away team:  
"Jean-Luc, we are going to try again," he said. "We are going to detonate  
a low-yield class four torpedo in the stratosphere. That should clear up  
the disturbance that's been preventing us from transporting you up."  
"Understood, sir." Picard's voice sounded distant, with the static crackle  
almost masking it.  
  
Down on the surface, the rain had let up. There was still moisture in the  
air, and a fresh smell of leaves, and plants. Everything was still  
dripping wet. The away team had returned to their original transport  
location, and sought shelter underneath a large tree which had long  
branches with thick leaves, and huge, gnarled roots that stuck out from the  
ground. The branches overhead with the thick green leaves had afforded  
them protection from the light drizzle. Now they sat among the roots of  
the great tree, eating supply rations. Hastings picked the food apart  
lazily and chewed on it, with nothing better to do. Jyresh leaned over  
Sainor, who lay on the ground clutching his stomach, unable to do anything  
but administer pain relievers. Picard stood a little distance off,  
surveying the area, now taking scans with his tricorder, now looking up and  
down, sniffing the air, touching the plants . . .  
"There's nothing I can do for him here," Jyresh had walked up to Picard,  
and was gesturing towards the prone Sainor. "I need to get him to sick  
bay."  
Picard looked at Sainor. "Is he in pain?"  
"Not for the moment. I have administered some pain relievers. But  
whatever his condition is, it is getting worse. And if you ask me, I think  
that getting him off this planet may be a good start. There may be  
something in the air composition that affects his species."  
Picard nodded. "They are ready to try again. We will know in a few  
seconds. Stand by."  
Jyresh nodded, and returned to Sainors side, monitoring his condition.  
  
Picard looked up into the sky, and saw a brilliant bright flash. It blazed  
euphorically for a few seconds, and then was gone. The torpedo. So they  
had fired it. He waited for a communication from Stargazer. Eventually it  
came. Keel's voice over the comm, barely audible through the static, but  
there nonetheless.  
"We are ready to attempt another transport, Jean-Luc. We have locked on to  
your signals. Please stand by."  
Picard gestured to the others, and they prepared for the transport. As he  
watched, their bodies began to shimmer, and fade. But they hung there,  
hovering before the trunk of the great old tree, half visible and half  
invisible, as if they were phasing in or out of some strange time frame.  
Then, they materialized again fully. They were still on the planet.  
"Something went wrong. The signal was not strong enough." It was Khalid  
over the comm system. Picard sighed.  
  
"Well gentlemen," he said to his away team, "It looks like we may be here  
for a while."  
  
***  
  
Khalid sat in Engineering, thinking to himself.  
"Why wasn't the confinement beam constricted enough to hold on to the  
pattern locks?" he wondered, studying his pad. It was a mystery. It was  
almost as if the pattern lock had been released at the moment of  
transport. Well, at least they had made some progress. They were at least  
able to initiate transport. Even if all they got back was air. He  
wondered. Before they had altered the planets climate, they had not even  
been able to get stable pattern lock. After their efforts at modifying the  
climate, the violent storms in the planets upper atmosphere, they were able  
to get a pattern lock, and even initiate transport. But again it had  
failed. What did they need to do next in order to have a successful  
transport?  
  
He began pacing. The other engineers and crew members stayed out of his  
way. He was lost deep in thought. He did not realize where he was. He  
was immersed in his problem. What needed to be done next? What was  
required? What was the missing key?  
  
It was late. Past 1200 hours. But he knew that the changes they had made  
to the planets atmosphere were only temporary. They would last only a few  
hours at the most. If they had any chance of getting the away team back,  
it was now, and he had to determine what the next step was. He had to  
determine what sequence of actions needed to be taken --  
"Perhaps it is not a sequence of actions that is required."  
Khalid stopped short, inches away from T'Pau, who stood in his path. He  
stepped back, and adjusted his sleeve.  
"I'm sorry. I didn't see you there," he said. He looked around. Lights  
had been dimmed. There were only three or four crew members in  
Engineering, not the usual bustling staff of thirty. The night shift.  
Everyone else was off duty. Had it been that long? He had lost track of  
time. T'Pau smiled at him. A Vulcan, smiling. A rare sight.  
"You can read my thoughts?" he inquired, not surprised.  
"People such as you tend to, broadcast your thoughts," replied T'Pau, with  
a slight inclination of her head. Khalid grinned.  
"What are you doing up so late," he asked.  
"Attempting to formulate a hypothesis."  
"Trying to figure out what we need to do next. What are we missing. I  
mean, we actually began transport. Everything was fine. We had pattern  
locks, the annular confinement beam was finely constricted. And then, we  
lost it. We transported alright. But we transported air. Why?"  
"Perhaps, our process is flawed."  
"We did everything that was required in order to transport a human being  
from one point in space to another. We've done it hundreds of times. Why  
was this time time any different?"  
"We did not refine our process to the point of precision."  
"Which part was flawed?"  
T'Pau considered. "In attempting to transport a complex biological  
organism from one location in space to another, we are required to consider  
several variables. The energy dissipation of the organism, the photonic  
discharge emanating from it, the frequency at which the sub-atomic  
particles resonate, the --"  
Khalid cut her off. "Thats it! The frequency range!"  
T'Pau blinked. "Elaborate," she said, not quite comprehending. Khalid was  
at a workstation, again entering data, equations, running another  
simulation.  
"Think about it," he said to her excitedly, "The annular confinement beam  
operates on one of three pre-defined wavelengths. The transporter itself  
has been calibrated to operate between three thousand five hundred and four  
thousand three hundred and seventy five gigahertz. This is the standard  
Starfleet protocol."  
T'Pau raised her eyebrows. "We have been using the standard frequency  
ranges. We are required to use a different frequency range if we are to  
obtain a successful transport."  
"Yes! And while it may get a little risky the higher up we go, we still  
have a wide margin to experiment with. I think we should try this."  
"If we select a frequency that is too high, we risk particle loss."  
Khalid nodded. "I know. We'll have to be careful. I am creating a  
database of the characteristics of the planets atmospheric patterns. We  
can use it to simulate transports at greater frequency ranges."  
T'Pau walked to the empty engineering workstation beside Khalid and began  
the long task of programming it for the required simulations.  
  
At 0400 hours, a bleary eyed Khalid and an ever-fresh looking T'Pau  
presented Keel with their proposal. Keel heard their suggestion, and  
agreed with them.  
"I acknowledge the risks involved. I think you should attempt it. Keep me  
informed," he said. They nodded, and left his ready room.  
"We shall perform the transport from Transporter Room Three," said T'Pau.  
"I have modified the transport buffers there to operate at the higher  
frequencies. It was also necessary to realign the Heisenberg  
Compensators. They may not function correctly."  
Khalid whistled. "If we have a malfunction there, this whole experiment  
could blow up in our face."  
  
When they were ready, they contacted the away team. The message did not  
get through. There was too much static, too much interference. Khalid  
looked towards T'Pau.  
"Suggestion," he said to her. "We attempt the transport. We already have  
their comm signals. The computer has their coordinates."  
T'Pau nodded. "It is logical. Proceed."  
Khalid began the transport. They watched the transporter pad anxiously.  
The transporters were operating beyond frequencies that they were designed  
for. Although still technically feasible, four thousand four hundred and  
seventeen gigahertz was not recommended by Starfleet. Early transporter  
accidents were linked to these higher frequencies. That was why Starfleet  
had abandoned them for the safer, lower band frequencies. Now, they were  
attempting to get their crew home with just the dangerous type of transport  
behavior that had cost the lives of many Federation citizens.  
  
Khalid swallowed. He knew what would happen if the Heisenberg Compensators  
did not function correctly. He still remembered with horror the pictures  
he had seen of the early transporter accidents: malformed clumps of flesh,  
misplaced organs, screaming in pain, reassembled by a confused computer  
into a creature far too hideous to behold, and yet alive and in an  
unbelievable amount of pain. He shuddered at the memory, dismissing it  
from his mind, focusing on the task at hand.  
  
The air above the pad wavered, like a mirage. And then something material  
began to form on it. They watched with bated breath as with infinite  
slowness a shape emerged. A man, sitting. Knees drawn up. Field rations  
in his mouth. He was looking about uncertainly, as one who has been  
transported without his knowledge. It was Eddy Hastings.  
"Hey you guys," he said, seeing T'Pau and Khalid. "You did it. "  
"But where are the others?" asked Khalid, studying the transporter logs.  
T'Pau helped Hastings get onto his feet.  
"Are you feeling well?" she asked him.  
"Well, let me just check for any broken bones," he joked.  
T'Pau turned to Khalid. "Only one transport?" she inquired. Khalid's deep  
dark brows were knitted together in a frown.  
"I had all their patterns locked. We should have gotten all of them." he  
said. He ran some scans. "The rest are still on the planet."  
  
Relief.  
  
For a moment he thought that he had lost them in the transport. But they  
were still on the planet. For some reason the transporters had only been  
able to transport one of them at a time. The selection appeared to be  
entirely arbritary. Then, he said:  
"I'm going to try again."  
He re-established the pattern locks on the remaining members of the away  
team, and re-initiated transport. This time it was a confused looking  
doctor who appeared on the transporter pad.  
"It's not me you should be transporting up here, it's Sainor!" cried  
Jyresh, waving an impatient fist at T'Pau and Khalid. "He needs to medical  
attention! He should be in sick bay, not down on the surface."  
"Doctor, calm yourself," said T'Pau.  
"Let me try again," said Khalid, going over the same rite to re-initiate  
transport.  
  
But the third time, nothing happened. They could not even get a pattern  
lock. The atmospheric disturbances had returned, more volatile than ever.  
They had lost communications, and there was an ion storm brewing in the  
planet's atmosphere. They could not attempt any more transports -- at  
least not for the time being.  
  
Hastings and Jyresh reported to the captain's ready room to give him their  
incident reports. Shortly afterwards Hastings was back at his post on the  
bridge. And the doctor was back in sick bay, reviewing Sainor's previous  
medical history, for any clues as to what might be causing his present  
condition.  
  
***  
  
Sainor opened his eyes to and tried to focus his blurred vision. He saw  
the forest all around him, with the smell of damp soil permeating his  
nostrils. He raised his head. Picard sat in front of him, and now he  
knelt.  
"Picard," Sainor managed to say. Picard smiled in his usual, inimitable  
way.  
"They were able to transport Hastings and the Doctor back to the  
Stargazer. It should only be a matter of time before they get around to us  
as well."  
Sainor shook his head.  
"They cannot," he croaked, through a dry throat.  
"Oh come now, Mr. Sainor, you should give Khalid and his team more credit  
than that, eh."  
"Picard, they cannot because the interference in the planets atmosphere is  
too great. It will remain that way."  
"How do you know?"  
"I can sense it. It did not want us to leave. That is why it brought us  
here in the first place. At first, I did not understand it. I was  
confused, feeling strange, unable to stand upright, these were all  
manifestations of the problem."  
"Explain," Picard sat back and listened as Sainor went on.  
"At first I thought it was I who was ill. But the Doctor's scans  
established that medically I was fine. It was the planet, you see. It  
sent out a false signal, mimicking a distress call, so that it could lure  
us here, and trap us. It requires life forms to interact with, and has  
been alone, for far too long. At first, when we arrived, I could not  
anticipate all of this and sense it, but as time wore on, I became more and  
more aware of it, until now, I can even hear its thoughts."  
"Mr. Sainor, are you saying that this planet is self-aware?"  
"Have you noticed how there is no animal life on this planet? We have  
surveyed over two hundred square kilometers, but have not seen any insect  
or animal life. Where is it?"  
  
Picard looked around at the plants and trees, and for the first time  
noticed what was missing. It gave the forest an eerie feel. Picard  
shuddered and turned his attention back to Sainor.  
"Why is this planet having this effect on you? Why not any of us, Jyresh,  
Hastings, or myself?"  
"It may be due to the fact that I am aware of it, and can hear its  
thoughts."  
"Can you communicate with it?"  
"I think so. I will need some time to gather my strength."  
  
Picard helped Sainor into a sitting position, and offered him a flask of  
water. Sainor gulped down the water thankfully and nodded. A few minutes  
later he was composed, even looking better, although one arm was still  
numb. He cradled it in his lap while he began his meditation.  
"I am attempting to make communication," he said to Picard, eyes still  
closed. For a long while, silence. Picard had sat down, and was drawing  
patterns in the wet soil with his finger. Then, Sainor remarked:  
"I have made contact with it. It has corroborated what I suspected. It is  
alive, and self-aware. It possesses intelligence, it is sentient. But it  
is not a planet. It has knowledge of planets, and can often approximate  
their shape and appearance, mainly to elude its predators. This species  
travels in herds, migrating from one part of space to another. This  
particular entity was removed from its herd many years ago during a  
migration. It was separated due to an attack from its predators. It  
remained lost, and decided to hide in this solar system, with the knowledge  
that the hunters were still out there, searching for it. It has been in  
this trajectory and pattern for several years. It has been alone, away  
from its own kind, without any contact with them, for too long. It  
required contact with other lifeforms, so it finally resorted to sending a  
false distress signal to lure someone here. It intends to keep us here as  
its companions, Commander."  
Picard was looking at Sainor as he opened his eyes. Sainor looked  
different. His eyes were not their usual deep black color. Instead they  
were light gray, almost white. He seemed unearthly.  
"How does our presence here give this entity companionship?" asked Picard.  
"Our interaction gives it companionship. Anything that we do is contact  
with another life form. It has lost sense of reasoning, Commander. It has  
been alone for too long. It is in a sense, it has gone mad."  
"Did it allow Hastings and Jyresh to be transported?"  
"No. It attempted to prevent their removal. But it failed in preventing  
their transport. By the time it understood how the transporters were  
functioning again, they had already been transported. But it compensated,  
and now transporters are completely useless. The shuttlecraft is still  
suspended in the atmosphere. It does not know what to do with it, but will  
keep it there as long as it requires."  
"Is Commander Hatta alive?" Picard asked urgently.  
"She is alive, sir, but barely," replied Sainor, with a slight tilt of the  
head.  
"Mr. Sainor, you must communicate to this entity that we should be  
released, immediately."  
"It had every intention of keeping us here when we beamed down. It has  
every intention of keeping us here now. It does not plan to release us  
now, or any time into the future. It has decided to keep us as its  
companions."  
"Tell it, that if it does not release us, we will perceive its actions as  
hostile, and that they constitute an act of war."  
Sainor was silent for a long time. And then he said:  
"It did not like that."  
  
The ground beneath their feet began to shake. There was a deep rumbling in  
the earth. The air vibrated as the shaking got more violent and the  
rumbling louder. The skies cleared, and Picard could look straight up into  
a clear sky and see the brightly shining stars beyond. And in the  
distance, he saw the faint outline of the Stargazer. He looked back down  
at Sainor.  
"What is happening?" he asked.  
"This entity is angry, Commander," replied Sainor.  
Picard thought quickly. What was the one thing that this life form  
feared? Being hunted, by its predator species. He looked up again, and  
even as he did so, he noticed the stars in the distance begin to move.  
"We are moving," he said urgently to Sainor.  
"The entity is changing trajectory, we appear to be leaving this solar  
system."  
  
  
Picard turned to Sainor. He said:  
"Tell it to cease it's actions, or the Stargazer will be forced to fire  
upon it and destroy it."  
  
There was a pause. The rumbling and shaking ceased. Even the movement  
stopped. For a few moments there was complete stillness. Then, all of a  
sudden, everything returned, more violently than before. The ground began  
to split open, revealing deep fissures that were previously hidden, venting  
hot gases and lava. The entire surface was erupting.  
"I must communicate with the Stargazer," said Sainor, over the din.  
  
***  
  
"T'Pau, what is their heading now?"  
On board the Stargazer they had monitored the "planets" movements, and had  
seen it alter course and direction.  
"No planet I ever saw did that," said Khalid, watching in awe.  
"That's no planet," said Keel, rubbing his chin. "We were the victims of  
an elaborate ruse. And now it wants to kidnap my crew members. Well, not  
on my shift."  
"It's heading leads it outside this solar system, sir," reported T'Pau.  
"Then lets get our people out of there before it leaves this system," said  
Keel. He considered for a moment what to do. Some thoughts flooded his  
mind. He saw Mr. Sainor, seated under a tree, hair all charged as if with  
static, pupils of the now-grey eyes constricted to fine points. He  
blinked, and then turned to Hastings.  
"Mr. Hastings, photon torpedoes. Full spread. Program to detonate just  
outside the region of impact of the alien entity."  
"Ready sir."  
"Fire."  
  
They watched as the bright glare of the photon torpedoes shot away from the  
Stargazer and towards the alien entity. A few seconds elapsed as the  
torpedoes made their journey, and then they exploded, in sequence, close to  
the entity.  
"The entity has not modified velocity," reported T'Pau, from the science  
station. Keel let out one long sigh.  
"Won't take a warning shot, eh?" he said lightly, as if he was talking to  
the entity. He paused a while, as if considering whether or not to  
actually fire upon the entity. As he opened his mouth to speak, T'Pau made  
another report:  
"Sir, velocity of the alien entity is decreasing. It is changing shape.  
Its molecular patterns are dispersing."  
"Transporters?" Keel inquired, looking towards Khalid, who was checking the  
transporter controls.  
"We have pattern locks!" announced Khalid.  
"Get them out of there. Beam Commander Hatta out of the shuttlecraft  
directly into sick bay. Doctor, this is Keel. You will be getting some  
patients very shortly, we hope."  
"Understood Captain," said Jyresh over the comm.  
  
They waited while Khalid performed the transport. It was a few seconds  
that seemed to stretch out into hours. Finally, Khalid said:  
"Transport complete. We have them, sir!"  
Keel allowed himself a wide grin.  
"Helm, move us away from the alien entity, and one half impulse. Steady as  
she goes."  
  
***  
  
Sainor recovered from his malady in a matter of hours. It appeared that  
his ill-being had been brought about by his presence on the surface of the  
alien entity. His enhanced telepathic abilities had allowed him to  
comprehend its awareness and thoughts at a level which gave him some side  
effects. Michiko Hatta also recovered from her accident, thanks to the  
Doctors ministrations, although it took her five days to be completely well  
again.  
  
It was not long after that episode that they were all seated in the mess  
hall, discussing their encounter with the strange life form.  
"Well, you are probably the only one of us who came closest to it," Picard  
said to Sainor, "what was it like?"  
Sainor replied: "It was like a child in many respects, missing its  
parents. It was lost, and lonely, and frightened. The only way we coerced  
it into letting us go, was to threaten it was deadly force. I suspect that  
had we not fired the photon torpedoes as warning shots, it would not have  
released us."  
"Do you think we will ever see it's kind again?" asked Michiko.  
"Perhaps. The species does have a migratory schedule. And in the ordinary  
course of things, they do not disguise themselves as planets."  
"One thing I do not understand, " said Hastings. "How was it able to  
recreate the planets surface and atmosphere, to such a degree that it even  
fooled our ships sensors?"  
"Our ships sensors are designed to search for certain phenomenon to  
characterize the existence of objects. An asteroid, for example, is  
considered and asteroid by the ships computer because it contains ten  
percent iron ore, seventy percent rock, and twenty percent water in the  
form of ice. The alien entity simply mimicked those properties inherent to  
planets, by observing the other planets in the solar system, and thus it  
fooled not only our ships sensors, but us as well, when we beamed down to  
the surface. It was an odd feeling, though, as if things were not real,  
but artificial or manufactured."  
"Did the entity manipulate matter?" asked Jyresh.  
"I believe it has some capability of manipulating matter at the molecular  
level. That was why it was able to create the plants, the rain, the  
desert, the atmospheric disturbances, the clouds, and the soil on the  
surface. But it is a limited capability, and it could not sustain the  
illusion of a planet indefinitely."  
"Well, Mr. Sainor, for getting us back safely, I propose a toast," Picard  
raised his glass, and others followed suit. Sainor grinned, and finally  
raised his glass as well among cheers and claps.  
  
  
T h e E n d  
(c) Jasjit Singh, 1999  
  



End file.
